Chapter 21

Next stop, X-Lakes.

This part of the trip was only about a hundred and twenty klicks but took nearly four hours since they had to fix the road going over the range. It was in slightly better repair but not by much. Recent rains had made several sections of the road damn near impassable.

However, they made it into X-Lakes early in the afternoon. Someone must have warned the locals they were coming. Speeder laughed but Darcy scowled at the big banner over the road saying, ‘Welcome Lord Lightning’ and the welcoming committee.

They had set up a picnic in the park and provided a big pavilion so Darcy could meet the local dignitaries. The best bit was, as far as Darcy was concerned was when they cranked up the barbeques to feed him. He also didn’t mind the small beer that the locals made, as at least it was cold.

X-Lakes was a massive valley with low rolling hills, lots of grass between humongous trees and small lakes everywhere. It was famous for its meat exports. The town mostly consisted of taverns, hotels and livestock feed stores as far as Darcy was could see.

It didn’t have a Guild Hall and Darcy was told the dozen Mages and Novices that he was introduced to, were it. He mentioned that since the road was fixed, they could easily get crystals from Fiona in the future. They did have a doctor and a hospital that only had six beds but they said they managed. They didn’t have a maternity wing but they did have a good midwife.

The town was tidy and the inner city roads were not as bad as some he had seen in the past. They had tried to maintain the roads to Canine and to Fur Hills. They didn’t do as much on the road to Fangera because not a lot of people went that way anyway and it was pretty swampy in the wet season.

He asked a couple of them if he taught them his road fixing spells would they mind going to Fangera and fixing the road. They dithered, hummed and hawed. One of the young ladies observing the meeting under the pavilion stood up and said she’d do it but she didn’t have an item and she could only do a bit of Earth Magic without one.

Darcy got up and went to talk to her. He felt the dignitaries were not happy with her taking his attention from them but he really didn’t give a shit. “Hi, I’m Darcy, who are you and your friends?”

“I’m Tilly, and he is my half-brother, Spade. My friends, the twins, are Marsh and Reed and this is my half-sister Clover,” she said. Darcy guessed they were all in their late teens. “Shifters?” he asked.

Tilly nodded, “Yep, we’re just the standard type. Our two families run a ranch about twenty klicks down the road to Fangera.”

“Would it be a hardship for your families if you five travelled away for several weeks?” Darcy asked.

“Nah, we got older siblings and younger ones. Our folks love kids so every eight or so years they get all mushy and produce another batch. We have all finished school and now we are looking for jobs off the ranch. We would love to travel but that takes money too. Any chance one of us is Novice quality it would sure help us earn some money to travel with.”

“Possibly, can the boys shift?” he asked. They all shook their heads, no. “Would they like to be able to shift?” he then asked and wasn’t surprised when they all nodded yes. “Hum, have you heard about if you interact with certain Shifters that they can help other Shifters change?”

“Oh, yeah, my older sister says she wants to go to Mount Dog and find herself a Dog-Shifter so she can come home and change us,” Spade volunteered.

“Did you know that my friend and I can give you this gift?” he asked. Going by the wide-eyed response, he guessed that was a no. “The problem is that if you kiss or copulate with another, it can change them too, especially if they are magically gifted. Also if the person isn’t gifted they may not change.”

“So its bit like magical gifts, you either can or you can’t, huh,” Tilly replied. “Can you try me?” she then asked.

“I hope, you mean just kiss you,” Darcy said with a big grin. Tilly blushed profusely and her friends and sibling laughed.

“Yeah, you’re cute, but you are a bit old for me,” she grinned.

“You could always try Speeder if you prefer,” Darcy offered.

“Can I?” asked Clover.

“Does that mean we have to kiss our sisters?” Spade asked, seeming unimpressed with that idea. Darcy noticed the twins didn’t seem to have the same problem but they were looking at Tilly.

“No, we can change to female for you if you prefer,” Darcy offered knowing he’d prefer it.

“I’d like to see that,” Reed asked. So Darcy changed for him, “Wow! That was so smooth. What do reckon Spade, I’d kiss her?”

“Definitely, more my style,” Spade agreed.

“Hey, Speeder honey, come here,” Darcy called out. He was amused by some of the looks he was getting from the people under the pavilion. He was glad the shirt and shorts weren’t tight in his male form because he needed the extra room when he turned female.

Speeder came over, “That’s unusual, you showing off your sexy butt to the locals.” He was amused when the boys all looked and seemed to appreciate Darcy’s arse in the shorts just as he did.

“The boys can’t shift and Clover thinks your arse is cute so she elected you for kissing the girls?” Darcy said. Clover blushed.

“Are they sure? They will be able to take Dog form if they change,” he commented.

“Hey, that would be cool, we wouldn’t need lankys to ride, Clover and Tilly can do Lanky so they can be our pack animals,” Spade commented.

“Thanks a lot, Bro,” Clover replied sarcastically.

“We might have a solution so you don’t have to do that. Well, let sees who does change and then I’ll hand out the boxes,” Darcy said.

“What boxes?” Marsh asked.

“Give us a kiss and I’ll tell you,” Darcy said with a cheeky grin.

Marsh grinned back and moved to give Darcy a kiss. Darcy still had to bend down but the young man didn’t mind a bit. Darcy actually had to grab him as he went all wobbly on her.

“Damn, that was one awesome kiss,” Marsh got out one he could see straight again. He knew it was going take a while before he got his cock to go down but he wasn’t worried because he was damn sure the other two boys would be in the same situation as him very shortly.

“Right, my turn,” Reed said. He muscled his brother out of the way and lined up for his kiss. Darcy left him hard in the groin and wobbly in the knees. His brother had to help hold him, while Spade got his kiss.

Speeder was surprised that he got the girls. However, he had no problems with giving them the kisses they asked for. He did have to work hard to dampen down the effects, as neither girl was shy about returning his kiss and using their tongues.

Darcy had them all sit down and he and Speeder sat with them. Speeder was surprised when Darcy didn’t change back and sat in his lap. Not that he was going to complain. It was rare for him to interact with Darcy in female form and with clothes on. He liked the little changes in Darcy smell when he was female. It didn’t help his cock go down but at least only Darcy knew he was rod hard.

“How long does it take until we know?” Spade asked.

“Well, I’ve not changed a lot of normal Shifters. However, I do know that over the year’s people changed by me have changed a lot faster,” Darcy replied.

They were interrupted when one of the women came over from the pavilion. “Uh, excuse me, Lord Lightning, we were wondering when you were returning?” she asked.

“Oh, I thought we had concluded our discussion,” Darcy said.

“Well no, there were a few things we wished to ask you yet,” she faltered.

“Tomorrow, we’re conducting an experiment here,” Darcy said and smiled at the woman. She could hardly argue so she went back to the others to tell them what he had said.

“They won’t be happy with you,” Tilly said.

Darcy shrugged, “I didn’t ask them to put on this shindig.”

“But aren’t you a Lord or something,” Spade asked.

“What if I am? Why does that make me any more important than you?” Darcy asked.

“Well, because you’re supposed to lead people aren’t you?” Clover asked.

“I might lead Speeder about, but that’s because he is a good Dog and he likes to sniff my butt,” Darcy said with a grin.

Speeder growled, “I’ll smack your butt.”

“Promises, promises,” Darcy said and battered her eyelids at Speeder making him laugh and hug Darcy into his hard cock.

The teenagers all chuckled at their antics. They sure acted like normal people to them. They didn’t dress fancy and even their auto wasn’t that special except it was one of the new ones that they knew the Dogs made.

“Hey Reed, are you feeling a bit funny?” Marsh suddenly asked.

“Yeah, I think he did it,” Reed answered, and a smile lit up his face.

“Me too,” Spade answered and grinned with delight.

“Hey, Sis, dad can change to Catalo can’t he?” Clover asked.

“Yeah, why?” Tilly asked.

Clover grinned, “I think I now can too.”

Tilly frowned, “Who can change to faerie?”

“Us,” Darcy answered.

“Oh wow, the image I have is awesome, will I be able to fly?” she asked excitedly.

“Our kids can, but we’re a bit too heavy,” Speeder responded.

“You have kids?” Clover asked.

“Sure, I have three mates and Darcy had two official mates and four sort-of unofficial ones, and he has sired pups to some our mates too,” Speeder answered.

“Why sort-of,” Spade asked.

“Well, he has two girl-Dogs that are his official mates and then there are us four Dog-boys that for some reason best known to Darcy, we have become his unofficial mates. We were some of the first males he changed and we have some weird bond with him. I can’t explain it any better than that.

“Shifters can have some strange bonds like our parents, there are four of them but they also swap partners, so that’s why none of us has the same two parents, I share one each with Spade and Clover, and the share one each with the twins. The twins and I are older by a year and a bit,” Tilly said.

“So you and the twins aren’t directly related and Spade and Clover aren’t directly related. Smart, good way to ensure genetic diversity should you guys hook up that way,” Darcy replied.

The teenagers all looked at each other, “Shit, do you think that was what our parents were thinking?” Tilly asked.

“No idea, but even if any other combination did get together, you are no more than half related like cousins. Are there a lot of Shifters in this area?” Speeder asked.

“No, but they don’t discourage us from being with mundanes,” Tilly replied.

“Probably, because you have Shifter parents, but it is unusual for Shifters to have twin male sons, seems like the parent the boys have in common is throwing them,” Darcy added.

“Mum said we had a female who had a human daughter to a shifter about a hundred years ago but the daughter left. We believe that one time when the shield faltered, she was able to leave the shielded area,” Speeder replied.

The teenagers gaped. Tilly asked, “Do you think you can come home with us? We think we have some questions to ask a certain parent. The one daughter that I know of that she has birthed can shift to what you call Dog.”

“Well, it won’t really matter, as you will all be able to do it too if you can now change. Also any kids you have, male or female should be able to shift too,” Darcy said.

“And if we kiss our parents and sibling they will too?” Clover asked.

“Yes, if they have enough magical ability. That was why we asked if you were sure. I hope your parents don’t mind,” Darcy replied.

They all shook their heads. Reed said, “No, I think they will be delighted, especially our mother. I know it worries her to have a lot of boys. If we can shift too, then all the better for all of us and she will be delighted as will the others.”

Darcy was relieved that he had read them correctly. He leant forward and pulled off his pack after it appeared. “Well, then I think I’ll give you something that will make your parents even happier. Now, to accept these, you must make me a promise.”

Darcy asked them to repeat the pledge and they all did. He then handed them each a box. “What are these?” asked Tilly as she gently skimmed her hand over the lid of the box.

“What you asked for. I’m sorry, they are not all as powerful as each other’s are. Tilly here seems to be the strongest, and she is an Earth Mage with Nature and Energy and she actually gets a vambrace. Clover, you’re Nature, orientated with Psychic and Physics. While yours also has three gems, it is a medallion. As you get older, you will find that you can probably upgrade.”

“The boys are still Novice class, but again you will probably be able to upgrade as you get older and learn more. Working with other magical people is a good way to do this. Spade, you’re Earth with Energy so you and Tilly should be able to do my road repair skills. Reed and Marsh, you two are interesting. Marsh is Lore and Psychic and Reed you’re Lore with Physics.”